The Exorcist Classic Movie Review

Classic Movie Reviews are once a week posts in which I review a movie from the past. It might have to do with a movie coming out that week or just a personal favorite of mine. These reviews may contain spoilers.

The Exorcist is about a young girl who gets possessed by a demon. The movie follows her losing more and more control of herself. This leads to two priests having to perform, yep you guessed it, an exorcism.

That’s really all there is to it. It’s a simple plot but it works for the movie and you don’t need much more than that in a movie like this. But even still when talking about this movie, people don’t talk about the plot; they talk about the scares. And boy is this movie absolutely terrifying. I’ve read stories about people passing out after watching it or having to leave the theater because it was so scary. And this isn’t full of the cheap jump scares we get in every horror movie today. Most of the stuff in this movie will stick with you when you lay down at night years after you watch it. Who can forget the girl crawling backwards down the stairs? Or turning her head all the way around? Or suddenly levitating off the bed? Or really just how messed up her face and body gets throughout being possessed? You can go on and on about the scares in this movie and that’s what makes a truly good horror movie. All of the performances are great as well. It’s well written and directed as you can tell by the tension that’s built throughout. There’s not a whole lot wrong with the movie.

Really my only complaint is that some of the movie, especially in the beginning, feels out of place. It takes a little bit for becoming focused in on what it wants to do. Some of it just feels forced and like it doesn’t connect with the rest of the movie.

But those moments are rare and in the end don’t detract from how terrifying this movie is. If you are a fan of horror and somehow haven’t seen this 1973 classic, you definitely need to check it out. It’s, in my opinion, by far the best horror film ever made. And for that I give The Exorcist a 4.75/5.

Are you a fan of this one? What other movies haunt you? Let me know in the comments.